2011年5月3日
By Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen Conference Chair, 流媒体 and CMO, id3as
专题文章

HBO Launches iPad App, Will Keynote 流媒体东部

HBO刚刚发布了 HBO Go iPad app, HBO Co-President Eric Kessler will show it off at his keynote at 流媒体东部下周在纽约. We'll also be streaming Kessler's keynote—as well as the keynote by Ran Harnevo of AOL Video—live on StreamingMedia.com. 凯斯勒的主题演讲是在上午9点.m. ET on Tuesday, May 10; Harnevo's is at 9 a.m. 美国东部时间5月11日星期三.

The HBO Go app also works on iPhone and iPod Touch, 更不用说20台安卓设备了, is the mobile version of the HBO Go web service that launched last year but has been slow to take off.

[Scroll down to the bottom of this article to see our video review of the HBO Go iPad app.]

This marks a marked change in strategy for both HBO and its parent company, 时代华纳, which has been slow to embrace over-the-top delivery of its content for fear of alienating cable providers. The web version and apps can be used by subscribers to Comcast, 宪章, other cable providers; ironically, 时代华纳 Cable isn't one of the providers offering the service. 订阅rs need to enter their cable subscription 信息 in order to access the HBO Go content.

Once they do, the app is gorgeous and easy to use. The home screen presents a scrolling wall of video stills, which occasionally flip to become video clips. 内容被组织成电影, 系列, 喜剧, 体育, 纪录片, 深夜, 总共包含1个,400种图书. While the quantity doesn't match competing OTT services like Netflix, HBO's ace in the hole is its original content—系列 like 大爱, 郊区故事, 大西洋帝国 along with original films and stand-up 喜剧 specials that aren't available anywhere else.

HBO Go系列页面

Series episodes are displayed for each season.

If you select a 系列, you then can choose from all of the episodes and seasons. When you select an episode or a movie to watch, you also get access to previews and extras, as well as Facebook and Twitter buttons.

HBO Go剧集信息

Click on an episode or movie title and you get a synopsis, “播放”按钮, the ability to save it to your watchlist.

You can also set up a watchlist with content you want to view later but don't want to have to hunt for the next time you log in. If you watch something but don't complete it, it automatically shows up in your watchlist the next time you open the app.

HBO Go节目列表

When you select "Watchlist," your watchlist appears across the top of the screen.

The app is the tiniest bit buggy; it kept asking me to create an account even 虽然 I'd done so, occasionally it only fills up part of the screen. But when it works—which is 99% of the time—the video quality is great, it's great to be able to watch this content away from the television.

这个问题, 当然, is whether or not these kinds of offerings can help stave off further subscriber attrition. 去年, 例如, HBO and Cinemax (also owned by 时代华纳) lost almost 2 million subscribers. With 19 million or so iPads now in use, 虽然, HBO is counting on it 还有其他设备 to broaden its appeal and help retain existing subscribers.

"That device has changed television," Kessler told SiliconValley.com. And since you have to be a subscriber to gain access to HBO Go online or on the iPad, HBO can offer all of its content online without changing its fundamental business model, which relies on cable and satellite providers to help it generate its $1.4 billion in annual operating income.